


Dracula's Brides: ARCS

by ArtificialWick



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Additional Content, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Character Death, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 11:19:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12456604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtificialWick/pseuds/ArtificialWick
Summary: This is additional content for Wick and Frida's 'Dracula's Brides'. It tells the tale of Sharon, Alyssa, Katya, Bianca, and those whom they've loved and lost as they struggled through life. While these arcs are mostly spoiler free for the main fic, I recommend reading it first to understand the universe.





	1. Alyssa's tale

**Author's Note:**

> Original A/N written on January 25th 2017:  
> I may or may not have said I was going to do story arc’s for all of the prominent characters in Dracula’s brides and well…. this is the first one! After this one, there will be a story arc for Bianca, Sharon and Katya. Alaska and Adore will not have one as their story is already told in the main fic. The stories lead up to where Chapter one of the main fic starts and thus contain just about zero spoilers for that! As usual, Frida wrote the outline and I worked it into a full story! Feedback would be well appreciated! xoxo Wick
> 
> TW: blood, graphic depictions of violence, physical assault, character death

Living in Texas was already hard enough, but having to conceal a secret like fangs and an affinity for blood made it even harder. There was a population of vampires living in Texas that was, albeit a small population consisting of a meek 12 people, strong and mighty nonetheless. When a new vampire was born into their ranks, a young girl with big hair, a beautiful face and a loud mouth by the name of Alyssa Edwards, they knew they had a handful when it came to her.

Alyssa bonded well with the other Texan vampires, quickly forming a tight bond with another vampire, a young girl with olive skin and long curly hair by the name of Shangela. The girls became like sisters, depending on each other just as much as they didn’t. They were good together and sometimes even better apart; when their strengths would truly come out.

They both feared for their life though, Texas being one of the worst places to be a vampire, for the fear of being discovered was far too high. Sometimes Alyssa would wonder why they didn’t just move away to some other place but then the idea of leaving really settled into her mind and she’d get homesick at the thought. Mesquite Texas was where her heart was.

They would have to be on their toes at every hour of the day. They’d go about their daily business in fear. Silver, the one material that others used to ward them off, over time had become less painful to the touch. This was beneficial, considering that there had been many times where either of the two would have to touch something made of silver. They’d wince, and talk over the pain by saying that the material was just really cold and made them shiver. It was a stupid excuse, but it worked.

One night, a group of men set out, a vampire hunt, believing they were to purge their town of the ‘sinful’ creatures known as vampires. Alyssa was in town that night, finishing up work and caught wind of the hunt, quickly rushing to tell the others. Of course the men had no idea where to start their hunt and would just go for anyone that seemed suspicious but, Alyssa knew she had to warn the others. She had to.

On her way home she tried to stay as quiet as she could and look as calm and collected as possible, passing someone by she would wave politely, until someone shoved a flyer into her hands.

“They’re coming, they’re coming!!“She squawked and screamed, flailing about as she stormed into the hut. "They have a list of suspected Vampires and we’re all on it! They’ll have our heads Shangie, we have to leave!!”

Alyssa ditched the paper on the table and started pulling at Shangela’s arm in an attempt to get her to move. She stood up, straightened out her skirt and walked over to her father’s big weapon cabinet.

“Calm yourself, ‘Lyssa, easy there,” Shangela squeezed her shoulder when she too, walked over to the cabinet. “I got something for you, I didn’t want to have to give this to you ‘cause you’re a pure, little thing, but looks like the time has come.”

Shangela picked the lock on the cabinet and picked up an item from the back of it. It was a big, lengthy box made of oak wood. When Alyssa received it and opened the it she found that inside of the box was one long hunting rifle, markings engraved on the side of the metal barrel. The wooden handle fitted perfectly into the palm of her petite and feminine hand.

“Here ‘lyssa,” Shangela said as she hurriedly closed the cabinet, “I want you to take this, you fire off as many shots as you can cause they’re coming for us, it’s a purge, and this isn’t my first time at the rodeo so I can tell you, things are going to get violent. We have to leave, now!”

Alyssa took the gun with big eyes and shaking hands. Sure, she was a good shot but she’d never had to hit actual things before, she’d never taken a human life before; only animals. She wasn’t sure she could do this.

She had little time to doubt though, as Shangela pulled her out of the hut by her arm and they rushed over to the other’s houses to warn them. As soon as they were all together, they helped each other pack, helping each other out when they heard the shouts of the town’s men getting closer and closer. Ears no longer needing to strain to hear their grumbling and angry words.

Before the Vampires could even begin to move to the exit in the back a handful of men and women from the town rushed in, weapons in hand, and the purge began. In what seemed to be an instant, brothers and sisters had fallen limp on floor, gunshots ringing out and blood spattering the floor.

Alyssa’s heart was pumping, her large ears picking up every little scream and whimper. She was almost out the back exit, turning to grab Shangela’s hand and pulling at her to get her out the door but another bullet shot rang out, and it was then that Alyssa realized she was pulling at a dead weight. The olive skinned girls eyes had rolled into the back of her head and she had collapsed.

Alyssa screeched, her instincts kicking in and forcing her to pick the riffle back up. She didn’t even care who she shot at this point, she just wanted to fire into the distance and she did. In blind vengeance. Even when there were no bullets left to shoot, she continued to pull the trigger; fired up by sadness and anger.

That night, she barely escaped with her life. Since then, she decided to jump from place to place, never settling in one location for too long. A vampire on the run, Alyssa desperately searched for a home, a family, any sort of affection, she did feel like the sin the townspeople thought she was. All she asked for was something to replace the love she’d lost, which was near impossible as she had lived with Shangela like a family and no one could replace the love and kindness she had given her.

It wasn’t until she was in a small town and met a young, handsome man by the name of Jay, that things had started to turn around. She was in a bar one night, watching the dancers, when Jay danced out on stage. He had long legs, looked rather skinny, had short blonde hair and beautiful eyes. She was fascinated with him, her pale cheeks getting a rosy glow just looking at him. After the show, they had a drink, they talked, they hit it off.

“Where do you live?” Jay asked her at one point as they sipped their drinks. “I’d love to walk you home.” He smiled brightly, like a kid receiving its first sense of authority. Alyssa couldn’t help but smile back, the kid’s laugh was contagious.

“I, uh- go wherever I’m needed.” She smirked, her Texan drawl becoming more obvious. “But I’m heading for Europe… I’ve heard there’s a woman there that can help me with some of my troubles.”  She left out the fact that this woman was a vampire, much like herself. It wasn’t long though, before her secret was revealed.

She parted ways with the boy and was about to depart the scene when sounds of a fight breaking out drew her undivided attention. Behind the bar, she found Jay, a taller, burly man towering over him; he demanded money and threatened to beat him, Jay didn’t have anything to give him and cowered after giving a very sassy retort that had only pissed his bully off further.

“Hey! Leave him alone mister!” Alyssa interfered. Jay scrambled out underneath the man and ran over to stand behind Alyssa. If anything, her appearance was deceiving, she looked so frail and still there was something about her that made Jay feel safe.

The man came forward and Jay whispered for Alyssa to just run, she’d only pissed him off, but Alyssa stood tall; small as she was. The rest went faster than Jay could recount if you asked him. Alyssa reached out and with her hand stained red, the man fell at her feet.

She licked off her fingers to clean them and turned around, her whole being expecting Jay to be gone. She was surprised to see him still there. He couldn’t so much as mutter a thank you but it was obvious that he was. From the bruises on his wrists to his shaking frame, it was clear as day that this was a common occurrence. Nothing was said but when Alyssa took his hand and he didn’t shy away, they formed a pact. Alyssa didn’t have to ask, Jay was more than glad to accompany her.

Finally, when they reached Alyssa’s destination of choice, she told Jay it was better if he waited in their room at the inn while she went to the castle up on the hill, Needles castle. Jay knew of her nature, her diet and he knew he was lucky that Alyssa was as friendly as she was. He was thankful, if anything, that she let him stay.

Countess Needles was quite famous amongst the vampire community and she was known to help strays, so Alyssa hoped there was something the countess could do. Even if she ended up working as a servant, low and meek, she was okay with that. She just wanted a roof above her head.

“Countess Needles,” Alyssa’s voice trembled as she bowed low and spoke to a rather regal looking vampire, whom looked down upon her from up on her throne. “There was a purge in my home…they ran me out, killed everyone, I-I-I don’t know where to go… I’ve travelled so far, I can’t stay anywhere, I have-” The countess silenced her as she took the small girl in her arms, shushing her quietly.

Alyssa hadn’t noticed her come down from her throne as she had hurried to explain why she had shown up here. “Come in my dear, and please, call me Joan, Joan Needles. Countess is so formal, there is no need for that.”

The two older vampires walked side by side down the hall. Joan had offered Alyssa a room and was showing her to it, until a child, a little girl, came scurrying toward them. As she halted in front of them, Alyssa took in her appearance; she had jet black hair, sharp features and the darkest eyes she had even laid sight on.

“Who’s this, mama?” She smiled, two little fangs peeking through her full, red lips, her white dress billowing softly. Joan turned to Alyssa and gestured toward the little girl.

“My daughter,” she smiled, kneeling down to her daughter’s height. “Sharon, this is Miss Edwards. She’s going to be living with us and working for me, be kind to her, alright?”

And Sharon did. The little girl would watch her mother and Alyssa, sitting at the organ and playing together, then when her mother would leave, she’d rush to Alyssa’s side, begging her to teach her to play. Alyssa would try, but then Sharon’s attention would go toward something else after a few minutes and she’d be off again.

When Joan sat by Alyssa’s side one evening, a stern look on her face, a subject was breeched that the Texan had not expected.

“Alyssa, when you go to town, you always go to see this boy… short blonde hair, thin, dances around like he doesn’t have a care in the world… who is he? I know you provide for him so he must mean something to you.”

Alyssa sat straight up, her cheeks red with embarrassment, taken aback. “That’s Jay, he’s just….just…..a friend…” she averted her eyes away, but Joan, with all the mothers intuition she had, knew better than to believe he was just a friend. The motherly way Alyssa took care of him was akin to how she was around Sharon, this Jay was obviously like a son to her.

“Oh Alyssa, it’s quite alright. Even vampires are susceptible to the most basic human emotions and urges. Love him, care for him as you always have, it is quite alright…” she responded softly, wrapping an arm around the smaller woman. “I’ll let him live in town, as long as you promise to not let these feelings make you get too attached because I have a special task for you now.” Alyssa nodded and listened intently as to what this task was going to be, it sounded important.

And, it was. She was to deliver messages for the countess from vampire clan to vampire clan, a messenger bird for her. It was a fine enough job, she got to see parts of Romania that she wasn’t used to seeing while she gathered information of the world around them. When she wasn’t traveling, she stayed in the castle; reading to Sharon, talking with her, helping her with inherited problems.

Alyssa was aware of how much Sharon struggled with herself internally. Whereas Joan could control her beastly side and let it out when she was hunting, Sharon was conflicted and would sometimes lash out to the point where she would have no control over her own actions. Yet, she never harmed Alyssa, ever; always refraining from doing so. When things got worse, she saw to the arrival of a witch, sarcastic and direct to the point.

After a while she saw to the arrival of another foreigner, someone from the cold north-east who was intent on killing them. Sharon, now at the fine age of one-hundred and five bent the Russian girl to her will and she remained inside the castle, like a walking food-supply for when they couldn’t go out.

Alyssa learned the girl was named Katya, and she was rather friendly. She spoke with a thick accent and was hardly understandable at first but she learned to understand her and talked with her more often than not. They got along well and sometimes Alyssa would bring Jay over, just so Katya had someone who was as eccentric as she was.

That was until Jay had to permanently move into the castle, ill. When looked after by Joan, they came to the conclusion that it was an illness that could not be cured. They asked anyone, the witch even, but there was nothing they could do for him. Jay was going to die, at one point or another and this struck Alyssa with more peril than she had expected it to.

She started to refrain from leaving the castle, instead opting to help Sharon with her studies on the human as well as Vamperian biology. Whenever Jay would get worse, she’d go to him, help him be as comfortable as he could be. It was the night when Jay confessed to her that his legs had stopped working that things went even further sideways.

Sharon burst into the room and violently ripped Alyssa away from Jay’s side, pulling her out of the castle and down through the town. Stepping into the woods they came upon a broken down carriage, and few meters away lay a heap consisting of scaly skin and broken wings; spear stuck in it. Next to the heap lay a man, blood being soaked up by the sand. Yet, that was something neither of the two cared for.

Alyssa ran over to the creature and took to ripping out the spear and tossing it away. Unfolding the wings and exposing the limp body to the moonlight, she easily recognized the facial features of the woman who had sheltered her for a hundred years, and then the tears came. Pulling Joan up and holding her beastly half, she cried.

Behind her Sharon was seething with anger, fists clenching and unclenching, growling. She looked out over the town behind them, dry tears on her face and didn’t speak a word.

The next day, Alyssa went out into town to purchase flowers to decorate Joan’s burial site with and when someone asked her about it; she’d say that sudden illness had stricken their countess, no one had to know the truth, the only man who could tell it was dead anyway.

After hours of looking for the perfect bouquets she headed back to the castle, only to have her heart drop to her feet. After setting the flowers down on a table in the hall she went to see Jay, needing the comfort of a friend. She hadn’t walked down the entire hall yet and had already picked up on a trail of blood. At the end of that trail she found Katya, gripping at the gaping wound in her neck.

She was twitching violently and the blood still streaming down her neck was a dark black. She was turning, she was becoming one of them. Ecstatic as that was, fear gripped at Alyssa’s heart, Katya was the family friend and the only one who could have turned her was Sharon.

Instinct told her that all of this was wrong and she rushed down the only path she could think of in that moment. When she rounded the corner it was easy to find who she was looking for. There was Sharon, standing over Jay’s cold, limp body, every bit of colour gone from skin and completely drained of blood.

“You should’ve been there, Edwards…“ Sharon said, her voice low. Alyssa screamed and collapsed to her knees, reaching forward to hold Jay’s face in her hands, tears never stopping. Sharon reached down and grabbed Alyssa’s face, forcing her to let go of her friend and look at her.

"You should have been there!!” She screamed, clawing her face with her sharp nails. “If you were there, you would have been dead and not her!” She battered Alyssa with her claws one more time, knocking the Texan to the floor. Sharon strutted over to the velvet love chair and collapsed, closing her eyes.

While Alyssa would have wished that, now more than ever, with two more loved one’s adding to those whose death she had caused. She didn’t want to leave Jay’s side. This poor kid… he had deserved so much more.

“I hope now you know where your loyalties lie, Alyssa. Humans die, sooner or later, this is their fault, as much as it is yours and his. Now, play me a little tune…” Alyssa got up from the floor, and cleaned the blood off her cheeks with the sleeve of her dress. She always promised Joan she would be loyal and that she would take care of her daughter, so without another word Alyssa stood up, sat at the organ and began to play, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Scars of the body would heal, scars of the heart would never.


	2. Katya's tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N as of 18 February 2017:  
> As I have said before, I was going to do story arc’s for all of the prominent characters in Dracula’s brides and well…. this is the second one! After this one, there will be a story arc for Bianca and Sharon. Alaska and Adore will not have one as their story is already told in the main fic. The stories lead up to where Chapter one of the main fic starts and thus contain just about zero spoilers for that! As usual, Frida wrote the outline and I worked it into a full story! Feedback would be well appreciated! xoxo Wick
> 
> TW: blood, graphic depictions of violence, physical assault, character death

Katya was as happy as any young, Russian girl could be; despite her mother often being away and her father having been permanently severed from her by the hands of war. She lived not at home but with an old friend from childhood now lover, Trixie. The girl seemed to always be happy which in turn made Katya happy. They had met by chance, Trixie having come from a country very far away from Russia. Katya had been weary of her at first, the bright pink ball of happiness having been a stark contrast to what she was used to. Over the years they’d grown closer together and while everyone looked at them as sisters, stolen kisses occurred more often than not; after all it was just the two of them in Trixie’s small cottage at the edge of the forest. No one had to know.

The burly blonde was returning home from the town square, basket of food in hand, humming a little song to herself. When she arrived at their cottage, she was greeted by the massive Kafkas dog they had in case bears dared to come close enough. It wasn’t at all a uncommon occurrence, it had only been a week since Katya had to chase off a bear. So, it didn’t come as much of a shock that the dog was unnerved and had red teeth. The backdoor was open and when she walked toward it she expected Trixie to be there, cleaning up any possible damage or getting the washing tin ready to clean off the dog. She wasn’t there.

“Trixie?” she called out into the winter forest. “Trixie?!” she dared shout a little louder, looking around and seeing no sign of her. A familiar sense of anxiety started to settle into the back of her mind, kickstarting her body into a sprint further outside. Running out into the village, she asked around for any sign of her. No neighbors, passersby or anybody had seen her! It was like she had vanished without any trace. Katya was frantic now, screaming and cussing in her mother tongue as she ran all over town yelling Trixie’s name. It was hard to tell herself that no bear had taken her, there would have been blood, signs of struggle.

Katya ran and ran, her athletic build coming to her aid. She had always been the sporty one of the two, working as a courier definitely had given her the ability to withstand the weather better and last longer when walking or running. though, now, when finally growing tired, she was about to give up. She had almost lost all hope, until a pink little sparkle on the ground caught her eye. Focusing on it she noticed it was a small scrap of torn pink fabric, the same color as the coat that Katya had bought for Trixie. “Could it be…?” she thought.

That’s when she spotted another torn fabric piece not that far off, and then another one. She followed the trail, excited at the thought of finding her, but as she noticed the further pieces of fabric were stained red with blood, her heart almost dropped to her feet. These pieces were too precisely torn to have been scattered around by a bear, which meant she had gotten injured by herself, or someone had taken her. If it was the latter, Katya wasn’t sure if she could handle that. She’d have to though, for Trixie.

Her blood ran colder than the weather when she heard a small whimper, instantly recognizing the voice as Trixie. Katya rounded the corner of the alleyway she was passing through, but almost fainted at the sight she was met with.

It was Trixie, held up against the wall by her throat, gasping for air, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, her body convulsing and blood everywhere. She was pinned to the wall by a taller, thinner girl with jet black hair and longs nail that dug into her thick neck, making even more blood spurt out. She had her other hand over Trixie’s mouth so she wouldn’t make so much as a sound. The taller girl dipped her head into her neck and licked at the blood and sipped quietly with a wicked grin on her face. Even if she had seen Katya, which she was sure she had, she just didn’t seem to care.

“You stay away from her!” Katya screamed, rushing out and tackling the tall girl with all her might. The two collapsed on the floor, and Trixie slumped down against the wall. Katya was on top of the assailant but she was thrown off her not two seconds later, pushed away into the snow by her brute strength. By the time Katya whipped around, the other girl was up and running away. She chased after her, but in a nearby alley the other girl had a horse waiting for her. Mounting her steed quickly and riding off she left Katya in the dust.

The blonde rushed back to her lover’s side, Trixie was shaking and struggling for air. Despite all her attempts to get the bigger girl up and get her to safety, to get her help, she died in Katya’s arms. And as she sobbed over her body, tears flowing freely, she couldn’t help but lock her eyes onto the two puncture marks that the girl had left in Trixie’s blood stained neck. Thousands of emotions flowed through her, sadness, confusion, pain, but perhaps most of all anger. Anger that this sick, perverse stranger took her other half from her in such a grotesque way. Katya decided to use that anger to fuel her need for revenge, she would not let Trixie die in vain.

Completely instinctive, she carried Trixie home and placed her down on their bed; pulling the blankets off her she looked like she was just sleeping. If you didn’t know about the bloody mess underneath the woven cotton, you’d just think she was resting. Katya decided to capture that image inside of her head so that she had it with her forever. Then, she vowed to find her assailant and make sure she were to suffer the same fate.

So, the next day, she went to the nearest farm in her village, bought a horse and set off in the same direction that she had seen the girl ride off to. It was about a town or three later that she found her. Everything in her being told her to attack her right then and there, but no, Katya willed herself to be patient. Waltzing into a pub and tackling a peaceful looking stranger would just make her look bad. She slipped inside the dimly lit bar behind her target and drew her hood far over her head to disguise herself. She listened to her idle Pub chatter, her ears perking up when the girl mentioned something about heading home to Transylvania. Katya cursed under her breath, that would be over two weeks of travel, but she would follow her as long as she had to. She just wanted to be sure she could have this girl dead at her hands.

She followed her from town to town on horseback, careful to hide herself, watching in disgust and horror as the girl took more victims in the same manner, and Katya didn’t understand why. Sure she’d heard of demons from Hell who killed in this matter but all the preachers had described them as horned, gray-skinned monsters without pupils in their eyes; compared to that description this girl looked normal. This, in turn, somewhat made Katya feel less afraid. That feleing was something that was soon to be put to the test.

After many long and weary days, they arrived in Transylvania. For a short while, Katya had lost sight of the other girl, until she spotted the steed heading up the long and winding hill to a dark and foreboding looking castle. She decided to stop and rest up at a local pub, to get a drink before she headed up the hill to confront that murderer.

“Where you headed off to?” The barkeep asked Katya as he served her another glass of Vodka.

“Zhe castle on the hill.“

The entire pub fell silent at her words, everyone glaring daggers at her. The barkeep leaned in closer. “Girl, you must not be from here. In that castle lives the house of Needles,, anyone who goes up there, doesn’t come back down. The creatures that live there, they’re…they’re…vampires.” He whispered the word as if they were cursed, as if they were poison on his tongue. Katya scoffed and laughed huskily, such things did not exist.

“No such thing!” she barked back confidently, “I’ll be fine and watch as I will be back down from that castle.”

With those last words, she saddled up her horse and thundered up the hillside. She tied the reins to a nearby tree before she scanned the grounds. The only way to the massive doorway was across the long wooden bridge, in the clear and out in the open where she could be seen at any time. There was no way she was going to get across unseen. It wasn’t that there were any guards positioned outside but there were figured moving behind the windows and Katya was fairly certain that they would see her should she try to get across.

Because of a lack of better options, she probably made the worst decision of her life. Bursting across the bridge without hesitation, Katya threw open the tremendous heavy doors with her brute strength. Even before she could spot the woman standing in a doorway to the right, let alone move toward her, she felt herself being pressed up against the wall. A hand wrapped itself around her neck, tightening its grip and cutting off her breath, long nails digging into her skin. She gasped for air, her eyes wide as she looked down and saw that it was the raven haired girl who was lifting her up and choking her. Her hands felt cold, her eyes were dark and her teeth were long as she bared them. Katya’s legs shot out in an attempt to kick the girl off of her, to no avail.

“That’s enough Sharon, put her down,” a voice rang out from another part of the room.

“But mother, she’s not dead yet!” the girl growled back.

“Sharon, put her down, “ the voice insisted, “now.”

The girl holding her up slowly set her back down on the ground, letting go of her neck. Katya slumped down to the brown checkered floor, gasping and coughing. The blonde frantically whipped her head up and around to look for the voice that had rescued her. Her gaze settled on an older woman, a younger looking woman walking slightly behind her. Striding over to her and helping her up, the oldest of the two dusted off Katya’s coat. Both of them were dressed extravagantly and looked quite beautiful.

“You’ll have to excuse my daughter, first impressions were never her strong suit,” she said, eyeing the girl in question behind her, who grimaced at her playfully.

“Welcome to House Needles, I am Joan Needles. What can I do for you Miss-?

“Yekaterina,” she snapped back, “and what you can do for me is let me hurt that wretched daughter of yours! She killed my lover, my reason for living, I’m so lost without her and it’s her fault!” Katya was yelling as for the first time in days the tears came streaming down her face. She tried to lunge at Sharon but Joan held her back.

“Why my dear, your head is clouded with silly judgments…” Joan crooned as she turned back to face her. “Love is a fickle thing, fleeting. You can’t stay hung up on this girl, she’s dead; everyone dies. The best thing you can do is bury yourself in your work to get through the pain. I could help you, there’s plenty of jobs to be done here, if you would stay and do them for me.”

“Never!” Katya shouted back, “zhe was my everything, I will never forget her, I loved her with all my heart! I would never work for someone who could just kill like zhat, or I could just kill you!” Katya moved to attack Joan, but was toppled to the ground by Sharon. She caressed the blondes face, looking deep into her eyes.

“Oh silly ‘Katerina, love can be found anywhere…” Sharon crooned as her eyes started to glow a bright, scarlet red. Katya was entranced by those eyes, she didn’t want to look away, they were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It felt like love, a little bit; which was sick and twisted considering that she got those feelings from a murderer. However, she was so in love with that glowing light she didn’t even feel it when Sharon had tipped her head down to her neck and sunk her teeth in. She broke a vein and fed herself, sipping on her blood just enough to satisfy a craving.

Afterward, Sharon lifted Katya into her arms and looked at her charmingly, not taking her glowing eyes off of her. Joan smirked as she knew exactly what Sharon had done. Hypnosis was her daughter’s strong suit after all, working her way into the minds of others was her specialty.

“So, maybe you will take a job here, with me to forget about that other silly girl?”

Katya knew just as well as anyone else that there was no way she would ever forget Trixie, neither would she forgive the one who had killed her; she also knew that saying no would mean death. Maybe if she played along she could get her hands on this Sharon later, whatever happened to her after that wouldn’t matter. She had promised Trixie that she’d avenge her and so she’d try her best.

“Da, I will,” Katya said in agreement, never looking away from Sharon; whom she vowed to kill.

Joan had her working as a maid, cleaning up the castle, caring for the horses in the stables and fetching her any other things she, Sharon or Miss Edwards would need. She soon learned about their tempers and how out of hand they could get. As the only human in the castle, that could be quite terrifying at times. Sharon had the tendency to go berserk when she was displeased and Joan, she would become much like the beast Katya had heard preachers describe to her all her life. Because of this, was overjoyed when Miss Edwards introduced her to someone named Jay. His accent was foreign much like Miss Edwards’ but he too, was human, which comforted Katya greatly. Despite him being bed-bound, they got along swimmingly and when she was off duty, she’d go down to talk with him.

Katya complied to all her given tasks happily, so long as they’d take her mind off Trixie and get her in Sharon’s good book. On some days when she would grow a little bit more rebellious, or Sharon and Joan would get hungry, the former would merely turn her glowing eyes on Katya again and the she would fall in love, losing herself in the trance of the red light, giving the vampires just enough time for a quick and clean feeding.

All seemed fine for many years, Katya had adjusted completely and had started to forget about her initial mission. However, not many good things last forever. It was a fateful day at the castle when Joan died. Katya was comforted Miss Edwards to the best of her ability as she sobbed over the beastly body of the countess; the Russian understanding like no other what it was like to lose your other half. The dead-winged creature did not unnerve her, the only thing that did was Sharon as she stared morosely out of the window. Worry settled in the pit of her stomach and she went down to talk with Jay.

The next day was to be the funeral and while Miss Edwards had gone out to purchase flowers, Katya was brushing down the horses in the stables. It was the perfect task to keep the hands busy. However, she toppled backwards when the horse she was brushing reared, hooves nearly knocking her over her head. She had little time to turn around and see what had spooked it when she was suddenly yanked back by her hair. She screamed out in pain and that’s when she saw Sharon towering above her, glowing red eyes, but there was nothing romantic about this light.

Katya felt her blood run cold when she saw the bottle of red wine in Sharon’s right hand. She had been drinking heavily and Katya could smell it. She had seen what light alcohol had done to the girl, but judging from the bottle being empty, it was safe to say she was completely intoxicated now; it made her lose control over her senses, made her the beast she was.

Sharon growled like an animal, dragging Katya back to the castle by her hair. She threw her down on the hard stone floor, throwing her body on top of her. The blonde kicked and screamed, starting to gain a sense of her reality again, but Sharon held her down tightly and fiercely, backhanding her across the face to stun her into silence. She bit down hard on her neck and began to feed, but she hadn’t hypnotized her so Katya naturally fought back. Sharon broke the veins sloppily, the girl trashing beneath her causing her to tear veins open that should have remained untouched; cutting herself on accident in the process, her blood dripping into Katya’s veins. She messed up the feeding and something strange began to happen.

Katya screamed and screamed out in pain, howling as she felt her skin ripping and blood dripping and mixing; the feeling of her skin being set on fire being most overpowering. Sharon got off of her and she watched for a little while as Katya writhed and wriggled, her back in violent arches. Finally, the pain started to subdue and localize itself around her mouth as she felt two hard fangs rip their way into existence.

She lay on the floor as she struggled to breathe, hearing Sharon’s voice yelling at Miss Edwards, but their voices seemed very far off. Katya lay there, realizing her senses were starting to sharpen; the smell of blood coming from down the hall was overwhelming.

Stalking toward it, her steps were steady and fast without any intention. The scene that played out in front of her was one of misery. Miss Edwards was sobbing, harder than Katya had ever seen her do. She was clinging onto Jay, who lay limp in his bed, dead. Katya felt a little bit guilty for not being sad about that. Her only human friend in this castle was dead, but then again, so was she.


	3. Sharon's tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N from April 18th 2017:  
> Hieee! I said was going to do story arc’s for all of the prominent characters in Dracula’s brides and well… I am sticking to that, this is the third one! After this one, there will be a story arc for Bianca and then I will upload the last chapter of the main fic, which has already been finished and is going through the final stages of editting. I hope to post Bianca’s arc soon too. Alaska and Adore will not have an arc as their story is already told in the main fic. The stories lead up to where Chapter one of the main fic starts and thus contain just about zero spoilers for that! As usual, Frida wrote the outline and I worked it into a full story! Feedback would be well appreciated! xoxo Wick
> 
> TW: blood, graphic depictions of violence, physical assault, murder, character death

It was a happy day for the Count and Countess Needles when their daughter, pale with big eyes and a toothy smile, was born. They knew she would grow to be a strong and powerful vampire and a fine addition to the Needles family, so they named her Sharon. The name was quite contradicting as it meant ‘plain’ or ‘simple’, but she would turn out to be the exact opposite of that.

Sadly, one of the two never came to know this. Her father wanted to be the one to teach her how to harness her abilities and her powers, but he couldn’t. When Sharon was very young, only fifteen years old, her father died of reasons no one knew. Joan Needles was left to raise her daughter alone, becoming fiercely protective of her in fear of losing her too.

Raising Sharon alone took quite a toll on Joan so she enlisted Sharon’s lifelong friend to help her out. He wasn’t like the vampires and had his unique way of being around people, he was after all just a cat. Yet, his sized varied every time they saw him and if anyone made Sharon feel at home, it was him. Cerrone he was, and she’d curl into his massive side for comfort.

Still, the girl tended to be impatient and lacked control over her thirst; her fangs grew in size faster than she matured and she was reckless. The countess had almost convinced herself that the girl could not be tamed at all when an unexpected help finally arrived. This was when the little vampiress met her to-be oldest friend, Alyssa Edwards.

She was fascinated by the older vampire, giggling childishly at her silly Texan accent; something so different from her own. She leaned against her legs as she sat at the organ and played, the sound of the instrument was the prettiest thing Sharon’s pointy little ears had ever heard and she’d rush to the organ whenever she saw her Miss Edwards near there, eager to hear her play.

Joan was happy to see her daughter calm and quiet, sitting at the bottom of Alyssa’s legs and watching her, but little did Joan know, this was the calm before the storm. Sharon began to lash out and act differently. She’d hide away in her room more. Her blood thirst grew strong, but regular blood didn’t do it for her anymore, no, she wanted more.

One night she confided in the Texan, whom she trusted like family. She’d pulled the blankets up to her chin as she sat up against a stack of pillows. Sharon fiddled with the hem of her nightgown and struggled to find the right words to say. It wasn’t easy, especially not under Miss Edwards’ sympathetic gaze.

Then, everything was said, spilling out from between thick red lips, “I don’t know what to do, I don’t feel like me sometimes, don’t know what it is I’m doing! I go out and I’m fine and then my fingers start to itch and my nails grow in size, my veins become so visible and it freaks me out; I can’t walk straight sometimes and I growl like an animal! What’s wrong with me?!”

Not having expected this, Miss Edwards was quiet for a little while before reaching forward and gently taking a hold of the teen’s hands. Sharon shivered when they made contact and looked up at her with pleading eyes before pulling her forward and throwing her arms around her confidante.

“I’m horrible Miss-,” she hiccupped between sobs, “mother will hate me, disown me, I’m such a monster!”

With hushed whispers Alyssa tried her best to calm the girl down, rubbing circles on her back. She sat her back, hands on her upper arms, “ssh now, dear, there’s no such reason for your mother to do that. You’re just like the rest of us, a vampire. Sometimes when we’re young we get carried away, and that’s okay, alright?”

Sharon nodded, listening attentively to her, believing her every word. “Your mother is prouder of you than anyone else in the world, she loves you and thinks you’re fantastic, don’t ever stop thinking that.”

If only Alyssa had known how wrong she’d been in that moment. Sure, everyone believed in Sharon, except the girl herself. She got older but the idea of making her mother proud never left her mind. She passed the age of 65, and with five more years to go until she reached vampire-adulthood, she tried her hardest to come across as such.

Yet, that was easier said than done. She snuck out of the castle via the window and down the many low roofs. Leaping down and landing on the hay strewn floor of the courtyard as quiet and as poised as a jungle cat, she went off. Sharon raced through the trees, the scent of a deer strong in her nostrils, until finally she spotted it. A beautiful, gigantic stag with large and elegant-looking antlers. She waited, her muscles tensing, until finally, she pounced like a beast. She was just a millisecond too slow and the beast took off.

Lip twitching upward and claws scraping at the bark of the fallen tree she had jumped onto, she growled in both annoyance and hunger. Rushing after it through the trees and nightgown tearing beyond repair, she was intent on taking down the creature; which she did. It had ran into a bush of wild roses, struggling to get it’s antlers free from the flower. Feeling no remorse, she jumped on top of the creature and tore several lengthy gashes into its side so it fell down. She bit into the neck, listening to the stag crying out and drawing its final breath.

The raven haired girl was small, but she hauled the body of the ginormous stag after her with relative ease, leaving a trail of blood and destruction behind her as she made her way back to the castle with her catch. As soon as she got to the main hall, she knocked the candles out of one of the gargoyle-like holders on the wall and strung up the carcass instead for everyone to see. In her own excitement she refused to wait and tilted her head back underneath its body and let the blood dribble into her mouth and down her chest.

“Sharon, what on Earth are you doing?!” Joan interjected as she came down the stairs and noticed her daughter. Sharon looked up from her prize and grinned wildly, showing her fangs.

“Aren’t you proud of me mother?! I brought down a stag, a beautiful kill, I brought down a stag mama!” She cheered almost childishly, proud of her prey, not realizing what exactly she had done. Sharon smiled, out of breath and panting, her smile fading and she cocked her head when she noticed how shocked and scared her mother looked.

“You’re not…you’re not proud of me…”

Joan was speechless as her worst fears had been confirmed, “No, Sharon….no, I’m not….”

Hearing this from her own mother infuriated Sharon, “You’re never proud of me!” She yelled, “no matter what I do I can never make you happy, you don’t love me!”

With tears streaming down her face as she practically flew up the stairs and the her room, shutting the door harshly closed behind her. Much to Joan’s dismay, things only got worse from there.

As Sharon reached her adulthood and grew, so did the intensity of her emotions. She would lash out and scream, but in her eyes look sorrowful as if she knew her shouts were wrong but, there was nothing she could do about it. Joan watched her daughter slowly deteriorate and hurt herself by scratching everything up, and in refusal to hurt anyone rush off in pain. She was desperate to help her child.

It was one day that Joan noticed Sharon moping in a corner, that she tried to approach her, but it just made Sharon even more mad, causing her to grab a lantern, flee, and dash out of the castle. Part of her wanted to hunt, the other part of her wanted to kill, but all of her was just glad to be away and outside. But, her anger was still too intense.

“How dare my mother treat me like- like a child….” she grumbled, flexing her claws. “Treat me like a peasant, no- worse! A slave, thinking I’ll do everything she says. Well, I can’t! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t-”

She was running at such high speeds and so deep into her thoughts, she tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground, falling flat on her face. The fall sent her lantern flying and it broke, the flames springing to life and spreading to the nearby trees.

Sharon’s eyes grew big as she was quickly surrounded by a sea of flames with no way out. She sat in the centre of it all, trapped, and she screamed out and cried, sure she was going to die. It wasn’t until she had heard the thundering of hooves and saw a woman running toward her, did she feel something she hadn’t felt in a long time, a glimmer of hope.

She watched as her mother talked to the woman for what felt like hours. Bianca, she learned her name was, was a witch. She was fascinated by her, eagerly rushing to the door every time she came; despite feeling conflicted, she didn’t need someone to watch over her like a baby. She was fine but then, it felt constricting so she left.

She saddled up a steed and departed, going as far as she felt like going. She travelled all the way through winter to a place where the language became foreign and unfamiliar. Practically starving she eyed up the small crowd of people that had gathered at the market. Sniffing out the most unique scent, she realized that it clung around a small burly blonde, but that the scent wasn’t her own.

She dismounted and instinctively followed the scent, which led her to a small hut on the outskirts of the village. She rolled her eyes when she heard a dog bark from behind the door and decided to take the hard way around for the sake of fun. Walking around the hut she found her way onto the back porch where the doors into the back of the establishment were open, much to her surprise. However she did not have much time to look around as something latched itself onto her leg and tore through the fabric of her trousers. Kicking back she shook off the massive beast that had bit her.

While the giant dog took it’s time to recover she tried figuring out where the scent was leading her. It became stronger and it wasn’t long before she found a rather striking looking blonde dressed in all different shades of pink, cowering in a corner of the kitchen.

She was about to make a move forward but the dog jumped into her back and caused her to topple. From the corner of her eye she saw the girl escape while she fought off the creature. She roughly grasped it and threw it across the room, only to burst into a sprint to find the blonde.

Clearly less adapted to the snow, Sharon slipped a few time when she was close, claws tearing the tail of the girl’s rose coat to shreds. Yet, that only made it more satisfactory when she finally managed to grab her and push her back against a wall; holding her tightly with one hand and the other over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

Now completely aware of the newcomer standing on the corner, telling her to get away from the girl, she dips her head in again to feel her shudder beneath her life-draining grasp. Then, she’s suddenly on the ground. It does not take her long to realize that the burly blonde had tackled her and she flips them over, pushes her and takes off.

All of her long journey she is well aware of the blonde following her, her scent is easier to pick up than she had probably expected. And Sharon wants to play with her, which she does end up doing. Once she’s home, she waits, Cerrone curled up at her feet. He only moves after his ears turn toward the sound of footsteps across the bridge.

She’s easy to conquer, humans always are. Sharon found the girl strange, having fun playing with her, hypnotizing her and taking little quarts of blood from her when she was feeling hungry. She had quite a lot of fun teasing her maid. Sharon was stagnant, her emotions not peaking but staying at a standstill, nothing was happening, until disaster struck yet again.

It all seemed to be going just fine, their life had been uneventful up until this moment and that was when she smelled it. It was familiar but so strong it couldn’t be right. Hastily Sharon went to find Miss Edwards and pulled her on after her. It took neither very long to find the source of the smell and it destroyed them both in different ways.

They came upon a broken down carriage, and few meters away lay a heap consisting of scaly skin and broken wings; spear stuck in it, an all too familiar sight to the both of them. Next to the heap lay a man, blood being soaked up by the sand. Yet, that was something neither of the two cared for.

Miss Edwards ran over to the creature and took to ripping out the spear and tossing it away. Unfolding the wings and exposing the limp body to the moonlight, she easily recognized the facial features of the woman who had sheltered her for a hundred years, and then the tears came. Pulling Joan up and holding her beastly half, she cried.

Behind her Sharon was seething with anger, fists clenching and unclenching, upper lip twitching; growling in anger. She looked out over the town behind them, dry tears on her face and didn’t speak a word.

Together they carried Joan home, deciding to bury her at noon the next day due to it being the most favourable time. Miss Edwards went on a search for the perfect flowers and now on her own, Sharon lost her mind. The emotions she had hidden so well came bubbling up.

She ran into the cellars of the castle, pulling out bottles and bottles of all kinds of alcohol that hadn’t been touched for decades. She drank and drank and drank, her emotions were too much, she didn’t want to feel anymore, she just wanted numb herself to hide away from the pain as well as in fear of losing control of herself.

But the alcohol only intensified everything with a tenfold. She attacked Katya first, turning her into a monster all the same by accident due to the mingling of their blood. She scarred Miss Edwards by killing Jay and then forcing her to play the organ, the sounds calming her down, reminding her of her mother.

A while passed, and Sharon kept to herself, often staying cooped up in the castle, until one day, she decided to take a trip into town. She stopped at the pub, watching the cantina girls dance as she drank, a particular blonde catching her eye. She was lean and lanky, thin but not too thin. Her face was angular and she had wide eyes with sharp brows to match.

Sharon sat there and entertained herself for a while, watching the girl dance, interacting with the raven-haired girl behind her. They were cute together but the countess only had eyes for the blonde, she was a pretty one. And she smelled good too.

When she made it back to the castle, she called Katya over to her.

“Yes, mistress Sharon?”

“The new arrival, the blonde girl in town, the dancer in the pub…..send for her, tell her I want her to come over for dinner…..I must make her mine…”


	4. Bianca's tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original A/N from April 18th 2017:  
> So, this is the last one of the arcs. Bianca had the most backstory that led up and tied into the lore of the main fic, so I want to submit her story last. Alaska and Adore will not have one as their story is already told in the main fic. The stories lead up to where Chapter one of the main fic starts and thus contain just about zero spoilers for that! As usual, Frida wrote the outline and I worked it into a full story! Feedback would be well appreciated! xoxo Wick
> 
> TW: blood, graphic depictions of violence, physical assault, character death

Some stories travel further back than most of us can recall. This is not because we were outlived by those who knew it, but because they were banned from our minds, the pain tied in with the words too painful. This also applies to this tale, for it is only in the mind of several and never told out loud. It is a simple story but, one of joy but also pain.

Once, a witch and wizard were blessed with the birth of a beautiful baby girl. Olive skin, big and bright eyes and they named her Bianca; this name was chosen because she was born underneath the pale moonlight and when she first opened her eyes, the moon’s bright glow was reflected in them.

The child was gifted with the same magical abilities as her parents, and was exceptionally talented for being so young. As she grew, so did her powers. It wasn’t long before she picked up the skill that was passed down through the coven for centuries, a skill that was essential to their survival. The ability to take the form of anyone.

Bianca learned quickly that she could take on the form of different people, and look exactly like them, having quite a knack for it. She would often take the form of her mother and do things that she wasn’t supposed to be doing, simply because her mother was the grand-high witch and was allowed everything. Se enjoyed this practice more than anything and almost lived in other skin’s, rarely showing herself for who she was.

It wasn’t until much later that she had to learn to control the power of her element. It was discovered on the day that she was practicing spells for fun; spells from a book that she had stolen from her mother’s cabinet. She was bundled up in peach-colored blankets, trying to decipher old scribbles that filled up the yellowed pages of the book. It was a language that she didn’t quite understand, her mother called it English and said that she spoke Spanish. The pronunciation sounded strange but Bianca wanted to try it out anyway.

When nothing happened, she gripped onto the book in frustration. She was so infuriated that she couldn’t work any magic, that she did not notice the palms of her hands starting to heat up. It wasn’t until it was much too late that she realized that she had set the pages ablaze, sparks shooting up from the paper. First and foremost frightened, she tried to douse the flames, willing them to go out. Then, she wondered what she was supposed to do, she couldn’t just place the book back in the cabinet and pretend nothing had happened. So, eventually she went and told her mother. Surprisingly she wasn’t scolded but applauded for her execution and curiosity.

It took a lot of practice and many burns and flames, but Bianca learned to control her element of fire, and a whole new language on top of that. Now, often using English to find her way, she was able to shoot fireballs elegantly and smoothly. Existing flames would bend to her will and she learned that even something seeming so vile and catastrophic, could also be warm and kind; fire, to her, had a heartbeat of its own. She learned to listen to fire’s voice and soon was a master of it. It even came to the point where she became known as being one of the finest, gifted elemental witches of her time. She was being praised by many of the older witches in their coven, and foreign witches who stopped by.

The lime light didn’t last long however, because most of her coven ended up being slaughtered in a witch hunt, leaving the poor witch alone. The witches of the coven whom still lived had offered Bianca everything, but the witch didn’t feel fulfilled anymore, she felt alone and cursed. So, she moved. She took a horse and took to traveling. She met many strangers and while she pretended to be interested by them, she often found that they bored her and thus she would snap at them until they went away.

One day when the sky was grey and cloudy, Bianca meandered into a town where she hadn’t been before. Looking mopey, she headed into the local bar for a drink. As she sat alone and drank, her ears picked up a voice in trouble, a girl’s voice, soft, feminine and laced with a thick foreign accent that she had never heard before. She sounded distressed.

“Please, stop….don’t touch me…” she pleaded. Bianca tied the voice to a girl in the corner of the bar, she was blonde and pretty. Scarcely dressed and despite trying to smile, clearly uncomfortable. She was surrounded by a gaggle of men, all eyeing her and trying to get with her. Hands were on her shoulders and thighs, invading her personal space. Bianca, never one to accept such behavior and always having been the one to refuse letting men overpower her, watched the situation intently; the tin cup with liquor heating up in her hands.

“Come on love, fancy a’ go with me?” A drunkard chimed in, his hand moving up from the girl’s knee to where no man should go without invitation. This made Bianca furious, the girl clearly didn’t want it. She strode over to the man, feigning to be another charming town girl. The sparks were dancing on the skin of her hands and she lay a hand in his neck when he wasn’t looking.

Bianca leaned in closer to him, “she said stop, pendejo!“ She sneered, revelling in the man’s screams and watching as he ran away in fear and pain, his other equally drunk friends running after him. Turning to the blonde, she extended a hand. She shied away from her at first but, realizing the hand was the one who had rescued her, she took it gladly.

"Are you alright, mija?” Bianca inquired softly, gently helping her up from her seat.

“Yes, yes I’m fine now, thank you,” the blonde replied, catching her breath. “You really scared him there, no one’s ever done anything like that for me. Taking him on is somethin’ else, he basically owns this place,” she exclaimed with wide eyes.

Bianca smirked and raised an eyebrow. She downed her drink and set the cup down on the table in one rough motion, “well just because he owns, doesn’t mean he owns the damn people in it too.. Anyhow, if this is a regular occurrence, you need to start hanging around some better people. What’s your name?”

The blonde giggled and smiled back, baring her perfectly white teeth. “Courtney, Courtney Act,” she said as she tossed her golden curls and laughed. Bianca felt a rush of heat through her body, but it wasn’t from her flames. “And your name, my sweet heroine?”

"Bianca Del Rio, at your service,” she grinned. “You should be careful out here, I just hate to see a pretty thing like you getting hurt; men should keep their paws to themselves anyway.” Bianca reached forward and brushed back Courtney’s hair. The blonde batted her eyelashes. “Well then, will my sweet heroine make sure I’m safe from those men and walk me home?”

And so she did. She found herself spending almost every day with Courtney after that, so much so, that Bianca took to staying in her natural form, stopping herself from shape shifting completely. Courtney had first been semi-shocked at Bianca’s ‘unnatural’ behaviour, but she hadn’t shunned her for it. Instead, she slowly started getting used to them. No one aside from Courtney knew about Bianca’s abilities and they did their very best to keep it that way. They’d walk hand in hand around town, secret little adventures in the woods and hidden places; no one suspected a thing, to them they were just two friends going about their business.

It was on one of these adventures into the woods that Bianca took Courtney underneath a cherry blossom tree, with a wave of her hand she conjured up the flowers to settle into a delicate crown on the blonde’s petite head. Bianca leaned in and kissed her sweetly and softly, only the blonde now knowing how much of an old fashioned romantic she was. The tree was declared their place, where they could stay away from prying eyes. Time passed by them and it was under this same tree, in secrecy, away from everyone, that they married, giving themselves to each other. Bianca recited the marriage oath of the witches to bond them together, their skin paling in the shape of two simple rings on their ring-fingers. They didn’t yearn for physical rings, gold and intricate silver, this was unique and for them, everything they needed.

The times changed however, and the man who’s neck Bianca had scarred, had never forgotten. The townspeople grew more and more weary of witchcraft. They started locking down and hunting any witch they could get their hands on. They compiled a list of suspected witches and Bianca was one of the highest up on the list, she was aware of this and started refraining from leaving the house. The witch knew she couldn’t stroll into town looking as she did. She couldn’t hide forever and when fate pushed her to go out, she decided to take a risk.

She hadn’t shape-shifted in a long time, the process now feeling very uncomfortable and strained but after some time, looking at herself in the mirror, she had successfully shifted into Courtney. People had seen Courtney around town before and didn’t suspect her of any sort of witchcraft, so Bianca figured she would be fine as long as she kept up the petite blonde illusion. Her nerves started to get the best of her however, fearful someone would see through her lie. Luckily, she was fine. That, until someone familiar stepped into the store she was in; tall, buff and with an air as if he owned the place. Rattled by his presence, Bianca didn’t realize her hair had started fading from Courtney’s beautiful blonde curls back to her own dark locks. Everyone noticed this change and Bianca was quick to finish up her business, fully aware of the whispering behind her back.

She returned home, happy to be back in her own form, but her love was nowhere to be found. She called out for Courtney, looking for her everywhere, heart racing when she couldn’t find her. They had planned this, should someone discover who she was. They had to leave, now. Yet, the one she needed was nowhere near. That, was when she became painfully aware of te silence, the quiet before the storm that was hanging around her.

Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach when she recognized the sound of Courtney’s screams from outside as they pierced through the quiet. Racing down the streets, Bianca’s breath caught in the back of her throat when she saw the townspeople gathered at the dock, by the water. A tough looking guy held Courtney down as someone else tried a chain to her ankles, a heavy block of concrete at the other end. It took several to push the blonde toward the end of the docking station and to the water.

Bianca ran, almost flying towards the docks. All of this being her fault was all that ran through her head as she rushed to get to Courtney before they drowned her. She couldn’t risk using her magic, that would just get her killed too, but it was too late. They had already tossed her body into the icy water, forcibly drowning the innocent girl for suspicion of witchcraft. Bianca stood still, completely rooted to the spot, hidden behind the masses that held up torches and pitchforks. Courtney had long since vanished beneath the surface, and the bubbles coming up became less and less, until they were gone.

Bianca’s heart was broken, the cracks now filling up with guilt and depression. She couldn’t stand living there anymore, everything reminded her of Courtney. So, with tears in her eyes, she lit the house ablaze to remove any evidence of her ever having lived there and did what she had always done. She started traveling to get away.

It was during her travels, that she met another very special girl who would soon take up a very special place in her heart.

Her name was Raja, an exotic girl with dark skin and almond eyes. Bianca enjoyed spending time with her new friend, gladly showing many things. After a while, she noticed Raja began to exhibit some strange, beastly tendencies. Her nails grew into claws and she lashed out violently, growing a thirst for blood. She fed off of animals when she could, had fangs and when she ran it almost seemed like she was flying, she was out of control and reckless.

One night, huddled up together in Bianca’s cot, the witch finally spoke her mind and told the truth about who she was. This lead to Raja expressing a great amount of information about her other half all the same. “I’ve been cursed for a long time, it’s in many families and generations…” the exotic girl explained. Bianca was utterly fascinated by this beast gene, but she feared for her friend as it seemed very dangerous. So, she set out to find any sort of spell or cure for her animal-like affliction.

Bianca had always been fascinated by peculiar creatures, so looking into this was interesting too. She rarely saw the beast that Raja claimed to be but when it showed, it was small with wings that stretched on for a few feet. Her skin would lose it’s warm olive tones and she would forget that Bianca was a friend. Sadly, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find anything that would stop this from happening. Even if she would have found anything in the near future, it was too late for the girl. The beast had taken over one night, causing her to run out and search for an animal to feed off, but all this rage and recklessness in her body could not be controlled. Raja tried to fight it, to gain some sensibility, but in her attempt to resist, the beast hurt and killed itself.

Her heart was shattered once more and she continued to run away. On her travels she would often be wishing that she’d find a home, a place to stay where nothing would go wrong. She deemed herself cursed, for at every single place where she stayed death had occurred. And all of it had been her fault. Even during her traveling, misfortune was upon her. Her steed died in the middle of nowhere and left her to walk. That she did for days, her feet growing weary and her stomach rumbling. She was too weak to conjure up anything at all so, when she saw lights dancing in the distance and tall towers reaching for the smoke-filled sky, she practically ran for the safety of the city ahead.

She ended up stalking into an alleyway all alone. Yet, her senses never failed her because behind her she noticed a tall, hooded figure following her. The figure made every step she made, turned down every alleyway she turned. Fearing for her life as the figure got closer and closer she threw a few meek flames at the one behind her, only to gasp in surprise when it raised a very feminine hand and reduced the fire to steam curls against the palm of its hand. The figure took of the hood, revealing her beautiful visage underneath.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Bianca,” the woman spoke up.

“How do you know who I am?!”

The Latina was scared. If this person feigned friendliness and was the opposite, there would be no way that she would be able to defend herself from her. Compared to her own fatigued and dishevelled figure, the other looked healthy and clean, ready to face anything in her path. The older woman strode over and for the first time in centuries, Bianca cowered slightly.

The blonde haired woman laughed huskily. “Do you really think the water witch wouldn’t know about the fire witch? Dear, there’s more witches like you than you think,” she said in an explanatory manner, raising an eyebrow and holding up her hand to show the thin coat of water surrounding the pale skin as if she was wearing gloves. Bianca nodded, understanding that this was how the witch had deflected her flames.

The blonde introduced herself as Chad, the Supreme of a nearby institutional coven. Bianca stood up and straightened her back the best she could, realizing that cowering wasn’t necessary and completely unlike herself.

“My girls learn the true extent of their magic when I teach them,” Chad praised as Bianca And herself walked together. “Your power is strong and you are capable of a lot, you could learn even more with me, and who knows? Maybe even teach alongside me as well… from what I’ve heard you are quite the expert already,” Bianca had forgotten that her legacy had preceded her throughout the years and held her chin up in pride. She did however, chew on her lip in thought. She didn’t know if it was her desire to learn that pushed her, the desire to be around other witches like her again, but she said yes, and Chad took her to the castle right away.

Bianca immediately fell in love the second she had set foot inside. It was vast and beautiful, with high ceilings and a richly coloured interior. Gold and several different shades of red made up most of it and the lack of light fixtures was made up for by tall windows that let in the moonlight. Chad took her cape from her and led her over to a small but cosy sitting room, most of the floor made up out of pillows. After this she went away briefly to retrieve something.

Huddled together in a corner next to the fireplace sat two young witches, though upon closer inspection one of them seemed to be transparent and not quite as rooted to the ground as the other one. When the two noticed the stranger the transparent one vanished and the other girl started apologizing into thin air. She had short and slightly curly, grey hair. Bianca sat down on the opposite side of the room and studied this witch’s appearance in silence. Neither of them said a word and Bianca felt out of place as she sat there with this girl she didn’t even know.

“I see you’ve met Miss Max Malanaphy,” said Chad as she waltzed into the room, followed by a tiny yet confident looking girl with the blackest hair Bianca had ever seen. The girl’s gaze was turned upward, to two plates with matching cups that floated above her. She directed one set toward Bianca and lowered the other one down into Chad’s hands.

“Thank you very kindly, Violet.”

The girl nodded gratefully and dashed down to sit with the greyhaired witch. They spoke quietly with each other while Bianca ate up the strangely coloured tarts that had been given to her, thankful to get even the smallest bits of food into her stomach.

When she was finished, Chad drew the girls’ attention and introduced the stranger to them. Bianca had never once doubted herself but when the two stayed quiet and judged her, she started fearing for the worst.

The two looked at each other briefly and that’s when Max reached forward and took Bianca’s rough hands in her own. “You’ve been through a lot,” she mumbled, previous shyness gone.

“That’s okay, us too,” Violet spoke up, “Max survived a witch trial and Chad saved me from a travelling circus. And Pearl was rescued from an asylum where they kept her awake to preve-”

“Violet that’s enough,” interrupted Chad, “that’s not your story to tell. Both of you should go to bed, you’re to be up early tomorrow.”

Max flashed Bianca a kind smile and tiptoed out of the room, followed by Violet who apologized to Chad as she passed her by. Once alone, the two witches caught up with each other. Most of the conversation was made by Chad who told her about the girls that lived here, the workings of her school and just little things about the London life. Bianca found that it appealed to her, and she decided to stay until she was back to full health.

In the end she ended up staying way longer than that. She poured herself into learning and practising everything she possibly could, even teaching the younger girls. She got to know them all individually and was surprised to learn how diverse they were. Over the stretch of time new ones joined their little group and Bianca welcomed them with caution, and an open heart.

It was the happiest she had felt in a long while and as her magical strength increased, so did her mood. It was one happy, quiet evening, that Chad had called her into her study.

“I need you to travel to Romania,” the older witch ordered. “And I want you to stay there, someone there needs your help.”

“How do you know? And who will I be helping?” Bianca asked curiously. Chad raised her hand and shook her head.

“Don’t worry,” she mused, “you’ll know who when you get there, all I am telling you is that some vampire clans there have been uneasy for a while now, somethings brewing and it is panic.”

So the next day, Bianca set out on horseback to make the long journey to Romania. It was an arduous travel, she stopped in many places and towns, but finally she made it to a forest on the outskirts of Romania. Sensing unease, she dismounted and decided to continue roaming by foot. She was walking her horse through the trees, letting the both of them rest, when she noticed smoke coming from far away, rising up above the treetops. She thought nothing of it, and was turning around to head in the other direction, until she heard a blood curdling scream erupt from the very same direction.

Quickly mounting her horse, Bianca galloped towards the dancing fire and into the heart of it all. Her horse whinnied in fear, but she whisked her hands in a flurry of movements, moving the flames to her own accord and trying to move them so she could get to the person in need. Moving the flames, she found the source of the scream, a small little girl. She was trapped in the flames and crying.

Bianca scooped up the girl and her arms, not breaking stride, rushing foward on her horse to get the girl out of there. Finally, they broke through the flames and strode into the town ahead of them.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright, mija…” she calmed the girl down. “Can you tell me where you live so I can take you home?” The little girl pointed a shaking finger to the castle far up on the hill. They rode up there and Bianca knocked on the big wooden doors full on expecting to be greeted by a butler or maid, only to be received by an elegant older woman, the girl’s mother.

“Oh, thank you, thank you!” She shook Bianca’s hand roughly as she thanked her for returning her daughter. “Don’t ever run off like that again, Sharon!” She’s scolded the little girl, who ran up the stairs, embarrassed. “Oh how on earth did you get her out of there?”

“People say I’ve got the magic touch when it comes to fire,” Bianca quipped cleverly.

“An elemental witch then?”

Bianca jumped back, “how did you know?”

“A vampires intuition, let’s call it.” The older woman smirked, revealing her large fangs. The witch gasped, she had always longed to meet a vampire.

“Well, it is quite the honour to meet a vampire, Miss…?”

“Needles,” she grinned, “but please, call me Joan. There must be something I can do to repay you for saving my daughter?”

“There are no thanks needed, I just wanted to make sure the little one was alright; I have a soft spot underneath all this.”

“Oh, I must!” Joan insisted. “Please, stay anywhere you like in the village and you have the full protection of the Needles family, vampires honour!”

Then it dawned on her, what Chad had said held true. There was panic and she’d been around the source of it already, even if she hadn’t realized it. She rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Thank you so much, that’s very sweet of you. I’ll make sure to drop by whenever I can, besides,” she said smirking, “it seems the little one has taken a liking to me.” She laughed as she noticed the girl watching her from the staircase and smiling.

Bianca kept her promise and did drop by almost every day, having tea with Joan and showing her spells, each educating the other on vampiric or witch culture. Every time she stopped by, Bianca watched Sharon grow into a beautiful and ravishing young woman, every vampires dream. But as she watched Sharon, something concerned her. She noticed the same strange qualities in her, that she noticed in Raja, the long nails and the violent and quickly changing range of emotions to match.

The vampire would sneak off in the middle of the night and come back with animal blood staining her lips. Bianca, knowing the self-destructive dangers of this ailment, approached Joan one day with these concerns.

“I’ve seen these same qualities before,” she explained over a cup of tea. “It’s a beast genetic some families have and I’m deathly afraid Sharon has it.” Joan sighed and looked away.

“She definitely has it,” she said plainly, “it’s been cursing the Needles family for centuries.” Bianca lay a hand on her friends shoulder, surprised as she was and waited for her to explain.

“I have it, I can go full beast, but I can control it more as experience has taught me that. The beast gen however, is recessive, Sharon doesn’t have it, but she got the worst side-effects of it all, she cannot control it.”

Joan looked all Bianca with sad eyes, “my dear friend…I won’t always be around….please, promise me you’ll take care of her when I can’t?” Bianca nodded hugging the vampire tightly.

From that day forth, Bianca tested every spell, potion and charm she could, anything to find a way to cure Sharon to avoid the same fate that befell Raja and even after the day Joan had died, Bianca still continued to look for that cure, intent on keeping the promise she made for her friend.


End file.
